Fostering Collaboration with Families of Children with Disabilities: Online Professional Development for K–12 Teachers

Technology has reshaped conceptions of professional development by increasing access to information, enabling sustained follow-up efforts, and fostering teacher reflection and collaboration. Drawing on theoretical models of parent involvement and an ethic of caring, this study examined the perceptions and attitudes of educators toward collaborating with parents of children with disabilities. This inquiry utilized a digital documentary and online curriculum for inservice K-12 special education and general education teachers' professional development in a rural school district. Results indicate that teachers who participated in the online professional development showed increased recognition of the importance of collaborating with families. Limitations and implications for future research and practice are addressed in the article.     

The influence of a customized continuing professional development programme on physical education teachers’ perceived physical literacy and efficacy beliefs

PROSPECTS - The purpose of this article is to explore the influence of a customized continuing professional development (PE-CPD) programme on PE teachers’ perceived physical literacy and...     

Age at start as a correlate of intervention effectiveness

This investigation examined the “earlier one starts an intervention, the better” hypothesis for handicapped preschoolers. Posttest performances of handicapped preschoolers on the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI) and the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) were evaluated in relation to the age at which the intervention began, the length of intervention, and Bayley pretest scores. Results indicated that age at start and length of treatment bore little relation to treatment outcomes. However, Bayley pretest scores correlated moderately with posttest scores. Possible explanations are discussed.     

Issues in generalization: Implications for special education

Cognitive and behavioral theories in psychology have failed to explain adequately the commonly reported failures in generalization exhibited by mentally retarded populations. This article provides background on generalization as viewed by behavior and cognitive psychologists, describes the failures to facilitate generalization, and offers an alternative explanation of such failures. This explanation describes the generalization process in terms of individual capacity for analogical reasoning.     

Teaching Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders to Self-advocate through Persuasive Writing

We examined the effectiveness of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of writing instruction with a self-determination training component for middle school-age students with emotional and behavioral disorders. We randomly assigned students to experimental or comparison treatments during which special education teachers provided the intervention. Students in the experimental groups received instruction on how to plan and write persuasive essays, were trained on self-determination skills, and were taught how to use persuasive writing to self-advocate. Students in the comparison condition received writing instruction with the established school writing curriculum. Instruction for both groups lasted 33 days, four days a week during 30-minute sessions. Experimental students significantly outperformed comparison students at posttest in all the persuasive essay-writing components assessed, in their ability to recall the parts of a persuasive essay, in the self-efficacy measure, and on self-determination knowledge. Experimental students were able to maintain gains in almost all writing measures and were able to generalize to content areas, although comparison students slightly increased in number of words. Student and teacher interviews revealed an overall satisfaction with SRSD procedures and the results.     

Developing a systemic approach to teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa: emerging lessons from Kenya,Tanzania and Uganda

While many countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are on track for meeting the Education for All targets, there is a growing recognition of the need to improve the quality of basic education and that a focus on pedagogy and its training implications needs to be at the heart of this commitment. By drawing on three East African countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, which are at different stages of development with regard to the reforming of teacher education, this paper explores the challenges and the lessons learned from each of the countries with regard to the development and strengthening of pre- and in-service training. The tension between quality, breadth and cost-effectiveness is explored together with a broader discussion of key principles to be taken into account when enhancing teacher education in the region as a whole.